@news1: "An appalling saga indeed. But each of us can live more simply, and help others 
simply live. As a Vowed Nun living as an Anchoress in a still-wild part of Ireland, 
I do this, as do my Sisters around the world in our Order. I use only what I 
need so as to give to others. It is very easy to do this.  In Religious terms 
it is called "evangelical poverty". Usually, when monks or nuns live together 
in community, that means not having any personal property. We are all Solitaries, 
so we live alone, each self-sufficient. And many are involved with feeding and 
caring for the poor and homeless directly. We need so little to live and it 
is a deeply fulfilling lifestyle, and one I am totally at peace in. I honestly 
know that if we are truly in Christ, we cannot live a "high" lifestyle without 
being false to Him.
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    @news1: "Change happens all the time, things are constantly changing. It's the only thing 
we can count on happening, everywhere, at every moment.  I understand the point 
of lost beauty, but human ingenuity can be a beautiful thing, also. Civilization 
tends to bring with it better health, as the article mentions babies dying young, 
mother's dying from disease. Things civilization can influence for the better. 
We are all a part of nature, just as all of God's creations.  Beauty can be 
found everywhere, in the work of man as well.  The greatest resource of a nation 
is the people, with civilization comes better health and longer lives.  Peace 
is what we have to strive for during, after, and always.
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    @news1: "I read with great interest Rev. Arnold's comments on the Paraguay of his youth. 
 I am sure many of us have pondered the dilemmas of modern conveniences vs "the 
simple life." For example, one cannot help but wonder if Edith, who died so 
young of appendicitis might have lived if a modern hospital had been readily 
available.  I also wonder if one good king would not be preferable to all the 
greedy politicians compromising and defiling democracy.  Sometimes I believe 
that slavery to a good master is preferable to a useless freedom that does not 
really exist.  So we wind up playing life by ear trying to minimize damage while 
yearning for the arrival of the Kingdom of God.
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    @news1: "A noble sentiment and aspiration, advanced by many people in many ways through 
the century. The basic nature of this temporal existence is change. The outcome 
of the struggles, ambitions and ideals of the infinite nature of individuals 
is always unpredictable and "perhaps" inevitable. We can only hope that the 
vision we have of a decent world can and will be realized. Regret for the "dear 
dead days beyond recall" sometimes inspires cautionary measures but rarely has 
influence on events. In the dark ages a manuscript preserves an account of a 
monk: "The barbarians are at the gates, God preserve us all!" They continue 
to make inroads, under changed circumstances and in various guises. These are 
always "parlous times" and ever require unstinting vigilance.
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    @news1: "How I agree with the motto: Live simply so that others may simply live.  A Return 
to Paraguay reminded me of my youth in rural Hesse of Germany. My family was 
evacuated from wartorn and bombed out Cologne to a dower house of a working 
farm where we stayed for 14 years until 1957. My father was killed in action 
in January 1945 leaving my mother to bring up four of us with the help of my 
grandmother. We were poor and from an early age were put to good use and helped 
on the farm to the best of our ability. We walked everywhere and in all weathers 
and were healthy and strong.  We were surrounded by a natural paradise and a 
healthy wider community of hard working upright people who lived by christian 
values. In terms of material possessions we had very little but my memories 
of my childhood are very happy ones.  We were loved and appreciated and given 
a strong sense of self worth through hard work and self reliance.
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    @news1: "I am sitting here crying.  What I want and so many of my friends and companions 
on our spiritual journey want is the life you described in during your childhood 
in Paraguay. The society we continue to errect out of money and greed brings 
us to a place of spiritual bankrupcy.  All to often it is only a life threatening 
illness that can awaken us to the reality of our lives and what we are doing 
to others, then create in us a desire to live differently - to see the world 
differently. I beleive that all voices awaken us to the reality of what we are 
doing and I value yours.  Your story makes a difference to me in my life and 
my perception.  I will carry it with me as I travel on my journey and speak 
to others about what is possible if we can wake up.
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    @news1: "I can really identify with what was said in this article, in preserving the 
natural world, not only as a place for birds and animals to live, not only will 
it provide us with the food we need, but it cleans the air we breath.  Nature, 
with it's trees and other growth, is an important part of this plant, once it's 
gone then we as people will die, as there will be nothing to eat nor will we 
have quality air to breathe.  It's a sad fact that so much of our wilderness 
is being taken up for corporate greed.  These corporation's have little respect 
for how their greed impacts the local residents in any particular area, in how 
they live their lives, their culture, and how they sustain themselves.  It can 
be here in the United States, Paraguay, Africa, or in any other country in the 
world.  When one hears about the clear cutting of timber with the resulting 
mudslides that destroys homes, making people  homeless, one begins to wonder 
if building that new deck is really worth the price of someone else's home being 
destroyed. The paradigm rings true, "what goes around comes around", maybe not 
today but it will happen, either in our lifetime, or in our children's lifetime...
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    @news1: "I grew up during this same period and can relate to the loss of simplicity. 
My feeling is that World War 11 changed our world forever. Yes, we defeated 
an enemy of the world, however in winning we lost our beautiful simple world 
forever.
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    @news1: "It is very sad what we are doing to the land in the name of progress. I believe 
that it was Will Rogers who once said "son, by land, God is not making it anymore". 
Every day in our own community we see "developers" filling in rivers and wet 
land to build homes. An article in our local paper was describing how people 
are selling off farm land for "the quick buck". Where once there were cows grazing 
and corn growing there are new homes being built. Add to this people complain 
beacause deer, coyotes, rabitts, and other animals are coming right into back 
yards to feed. If we do not wake up and realize the downward spiral we are in 
it will become to late to pull out!
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    @news1: "Thank you for those heart-warming thoughts,particularly at a time when the world 
seems so troubled with conflict and lack of understanding.
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    @news1: "Local and global interests are more intertwined than ever before.  We are to 
be governed by the Sermon on the Mt.  Jesus calls us to be good citizens of 
both heaven and earth........We must seek this strength in order to cope with 
the demons of selfishness, exploitation, greed, and coveteousness.  We must 
strive to do justice and stop the hunger, the corruption, the genocide in the 
Sudan, and the horrific trafficking of children and women.  There are millions 
of children who still are in slavery.  Why has not public opinion searched out 
these issues?  The rich and the powerful must assist in eradicating the hurting 
hells of this shrinking earth.  We must pray, of course, and to allow ourselves 
to be conduits of help to the broken, the bruised, and the battered of this 
world.  Our Lord has created us for community and it begins in all of the above.
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    @news1: "These thoughts  and feelings-echo what is most important in lifeloving God 
and loving one another. Everything else is mere trappings and clutter in our 
society. Thank you for sharing your heart with us.
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    @news1: "Sometimes as human beings we forget that we are only stewards of this great 
earth which is growing smaller each day. As God's word declares we are our brothers 
keeper. And, Johann Arnold points out the dangers of monetary greed. Progress 
does not always mean what's best.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful place if we could 
have a friendlier society toward nature and earth's natural state.
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    @news1: "This is a very informative article with wonderful insights and a powerful conclusion. 
 I found myself agreeing with all the comments made by the author and finished 
the article wondering how I could live simply to improve the plight of millions 
who would only dream of the life style I often take for granted.
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    @news1: "It is sad to think of the loss of yet anothe untamed and unnocent land in this 
global world of ours. Of course, you are right that this world is God's - and 
we are only stewards. I fear the day we have to account for our stewardship 
of His resources. We try to be responsible in our little area - but I know that 
consumerusm and greed mean that we fall short. It was not really that long ago 
that our country too offered only horse or feet for transportation, when native 
animals, such as buffalo roamed plentifully, and stars were surely easier to 
view without the artificial lights around us now. It amazes me when I hear people 
praising the "progress" in our rural area - where this summer alone we have 
seen a new housing development, large hotel and a HUGE baseball camp replace 
wooded areas and marshlands! The hotel provides minimum wage jobs, but rents 
rooms for $195.00 per night, and the houses start at $150,000.00! The baseball 
camp is too expensive for local children, but again, offers only minimum wage 
jobs and brings greater traffic and other needs to our area. And this is seen 
as progress!
I am reminded of a song from the Appalachian mountains ( author, Jean Ritchie) 
called , "Cool of the Day", where the singer says,
" My Lord, He said  unto me,
 Do you like my pastures so fair?
 You may lie in my pastures, if you keep my grasses green,
And I'll walk in my pastures, in the cool of the day.
Now is the cool of the day
Now is the cool of the day,
You may lie in my pastures, if you keep my grasses green, and I'll walk in 
mypastures, in the cool of the day. There are verses about His waters, gardens, 
woodlands, etc. Enjoy the bit of heaven near you! Wishing I could join you in 
the remoteness of some of the Bruderhofs!
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    @news1: "The quote "Live simply, etc." is attibuted to Saint Elizabeth Seton the woman 
who founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul of N.Y., the community 
of which I once was a member. Wonderful to hear this story.  Thank you for sharing.
Responding to <url>
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    @news1: "Thanks for your insights again, Christoph!  On a different level, it is how 
I feel about living here in Lincolnville, Maine!  Sometimes I feel like I live 
in the middle of a Norman Rockwell painting and many of us here are working 
hard to uphold that scene..... Then other times things like the tragedy of teenage 
suicide and the imposition of computers and immediacy into our lives interrupt 
a time rapidly going by that seems never to return. I see it in the loss each 
year of yet another "Maine farmer," who farmed the old fashioned way for fifty 
years or more.... Progress is not always what it's promoted to be.... and in 
the midst of it all, you're right  the rich get richer and the poor get poorer..... 
I give thanks for my wild blueberry fields, the birds chirping at my feeders 
and the grace I've been granted in serving a small, rural congregation of kind 
hearted souls......
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    @news1: "Thanks for the thoughtful article.  Many have experienced a shock upon returning 
to their "hometowns" even in the U.S.A,.  Changes occur everywhere, but seldom 
to the benefit of the citizens who sometimes remember a more wholesome time 
in the cities of their childhood.
Responding to <url>"
    @news1: "What a wonderful upbringing.  I am so happy that your childhood, was so grand. 
And, that you are 
sharing your writing with the world.
Responding to <url>"
    @news1: "What a moving story!  I fear we will not appreciate what we have/had until we 
have lost it.  Our greed will devour us unless we consciously and deliberately 
choose a different path, the path of peace and love and sharing.  I hope it 
is not too late.
Responding to <url>"
    @news1: "I have always enjoyed reading your articles. But I can't help wondering whether 
you are against material and scientific progress.  When I was young,  most of 
our cooking was done by burning fire wood, we had no refrigerators no TVs and 
in some places no electricity. We have come a long way since then, and of course 
we do have nostalgic memories of those bygone days.  But I also do love,  the 
fruits of material progress,  I like the Internet...that's how I am able to 
communicate with you,  I like my car, I like the movies,...  Probably what you 
are trying to say is all this is achieved at a price...are you against family 
planning?  All the evils in our country I can attribute it to one factor - over 
population.  It is heart wrenching to read about farmers committing suicide, 
 (in India) emaciated children dying of hunger.  Can one really enjoy the fruits 
of ones affluence,  when there are so many out there who have not eaten for 
days together....
Responding to <url>"
    @news1: "Yes, the world does not belong to us, I'm reminded of the saying assocated with 
North American Indians, 'man did not weave the web of life he is only a strand 
of it, what he dos to the web he does to himself'
Responding to <url>"
    @news1: "Your comments hit the nail on the head.  What is the difference between democracy 
and a dictatorship, really? The imposing of globalization on third world countries 
is a sin not an improvement to the grace of living.  Basic improvements of water 
and electricity, but not the wholesale commercial farming or McD on every corner. 
 Let the world have some unique flavors and evironments.  Different is OK.
Responding to <url>"
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